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I’m in the midst of finals right now, so it will be a few more days until I have anything of substance here, but I wanted to let you all know there are some upcoming events you can see me at!

Twisted Tryst is a kinky, sexy, and clothing optional camping events June 9th to the 12th in Indiana. There is a second event in August in Michigan which I highly recommend, but am not 100% confirmed for yet. I will be attending and on staff, but not speaking or teaching this year. We get up to all kinds of shenanigans at camp! This camp is not an overtly social justice space, but there are enclaves of SJ people and radical inclusivity is at the core of Tryst’s mission. It is also definitely not an atheist space (in fact, it’s pretty heavy on spiritual woo) but I’ve always been accepted there as a woo-free atheist anyway. There are still spaces available for more campers and the very NSFW link is here.

Debauchery is a kinky, sexy, and social justice friendly hotel event in North Carolina June 17-19. I previously wrote about this event here. On the 18th I will be presenting a workshop called “Non-Monogamy Without Negotiations.” Getting tickets at this point might be hard, as they’re sold out, but it is sometimes possible to get one transferred if someone else needs to give up their space so email the organizers if you want to attend this. Their text only (no sexy pictures) website is here.

CONvergence is a science fiction/fantasy/geek/skepticism/awesomeness convention on June 30th to July 3rd near Minneapolis Minnesota. I will be on five panels: Science of Sexual Fluidity, Spoilers: A Love-Hate Relationship, Consent Culture in Steven Universe, Ingress Strategy, and Gasoline Is So Last Century. I will also definitely be cosplaying. I love CONvergence and I’m thrilled to return this year.

I hear some sort of rumor about an online OrbitCon coming before my fall classes start… 😉

Finally, I will be attending Skepticon on November 11th to 13th in Springfield Missouri. Skepticon is a free skeptics convention with a heavy social justice bent. I attended last year and wrote about my experience. I’m not speaking or running workshops or anything, I just look forward to seeing awesome people and enjoying being in such a great space again.

Frivolous Fridays are the Orbit bloggers’ excuse to post about fun things we care about that may not have serious implications for atheism or social justice. Any day is a good day to write about whatever the heck we’re interested in (hey, we put “culture” in our tagline for a reason), but we sometimes have a hard time giving ourselves permission to do that. This is our way of encouraging each other to take a break from serious topics and have some fun. Enjoy!

Well, I went out for my gear test weekend just as I planned. I went to Gebhard Woods State Park, about an hour and a half south of Chicago, in the town of Morris. I was hoping to test the gear I have for going with tent-free camping – a hammock and tarp, with my usual pad and sleeping bag. I also originally intended to do some hiking but blisters on my feet from work meant I changed that plan last minute to stay off my feet as much as I could.Continue reading “Frivolous Friday: Gebhard Woods Gear Test”→